Fighting fat in Warwicks first Mini Medical School

People can experience a few hours of life as a trainee doctor without the long shifts and lack of sleep this summer at the University of Warwick. No qualifications are required for entry into a new community medical education programme being run by Warwick Medical School.

The School, based at Gibbet Hill Road, is launching a Mini Medical School to share the experience, education, and research normally reserved for graduates on the four-year MBChB course. People of all ages and backgrounds can sign up for the first classes being held on Saturday 30 June. The focus of this session will be obesity and participants will learn from some of the country’s leading medical clinicians and researchers how the human body is affected by the condition. More than 30,000 deaths a year are caused by obesity in England alone. Is it down to our genes or is our lifestyle to blame for this pandemic? Academics will discuss the causes of obesity and how cutting edge research taking place at Warwick Medical School is playing a part in the global fight against the condition.

In addition to lectures there will be an opportunity for participants to assess their own body fat percentage using a Body Composition Analyser. Practical workshops, led by our medical students, will also teach how to check blood pressure, blood sugar, and body mass index.

The idea of a Mini Medical School was pioneered in America and more than 80 universities have been successfully running the programmes there for many years. Stanford and Yale universities are just two American institutions who offer the public education programme.

Warwick Medical School, established in 2000, is part of the University of Warwick – one of the country’s leading universities for research, innovation and teaching. The School is already the largest graduate-entry medical school in the UK. It also has an ambitious research programme and more Mini Medical School sessions are already being planned for later this year. Future topics will highlight groundbreaking research in the fields of reproduction, diabetes and cancer.

Professor Yvonne Carter, Dean of Warwick Medical School said: “There is so much exciting research taking place at Warwick Medical School and we want to make sure people in the community feel involved in what we are doing.

“Obesity is such a hot topic at the moment and it will be a great opportunity to find out how our work at Warwick impacts on the national and international picture.”

Anyone who attends Mini Medical School will receive a certificate of attendance. The programme is being offered as part of the University of Warwick’s Open Studies programmes. The cost is £30 for the day.